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Saturday, May 20, 2017

The Meadow Club

Today we played our reciprocal club here in Fairfax, The Meadow Club.


As the plaque says, Meadow Club was the first course designed by the great Dr. Alister MacKenzie in North America.  It was designed in 1927, and is situated in the Bon Tempe meadow, beneath Mt Tamalpais.


Again we were greeted by a stunning day, perfect blue skies and no wind.  The temperature up here in Fairfax is approx 15 degrees (F) warmer than in the city, so it was quite hot today.


The club is very proud of it's MacKenzie history, and has been strongly committed to returning the course to its original state.  Like many courses the depression, and world war 2, had big impacts on staffing and budgets, therefore maintenance practices changed.


For the past 10 years there has been a lot of work done on reshaping greens and bunkers, removing trees, and re-instating bunkers.  When the course was created, there were no trees in the meadow.


Above is a great example of the restored bunkers.


The creek (although dry at the moment) that runs across the fairway and down the left side of the par four 7th.


 Looking across to the 7th green, through the wispy grass near the 8th tee.


The view up to the expansive clubhouse on the par four 9th hole.


The wildlife here is diverse, and as the sun gets low in the sky, the deer come out to play.


The view down the par five 13th hole.  Before the restoration work commenced, the bunkers were non existent.  There was a row of redwood pine trees though.  You would have needed to walk sideways to fit down the fairway!


Looking back across to the green of the par three 14th, from the 15th tee.


The trees here around the tee of the par five 15th are soon to be on the chopping block.  There is not much space in the launch zone to get a ball through.


Looking over the sixth green to the par four 16th.


Heading for home on the par four 18th.


 Another great experience, shared with great friends from a great club.  Thanks to all at Meadow Club for a very enjoyable day.

Time for a rest day now.  Sightseeing in San Francisco will be the order of the day for everyone on Saturday.

The next golf course on the list is another MacKenzie creation, Pasatiempo.

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